Volume 10 — September 26, 2013
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Impact of New York City’s Health Bucks Program on Electronic Benefit Transfer Spending at Farmers Markets, 2006–2009
Year | Markets with EBT Not Accepting Health Bucks, $ (No. of Market Days) | Markets with EBT Accepting Health Bucks, $ (No. of Market Days) | P Value |
---|---|---|---|
All years | 274 (396) | 383 (672) | <.001 |
2006 | 161 (36) | 95 (84) | .004 |
2007 | 381 (40) | 109 (137) | <.001 |
2008 | 212 (100) | 397 (172) | <.001 |
2009 | 301 (220) | 596 (279) | <.001 |
Figure 1. Average daily EBT sales at New York City
farmers markets with and without the Health Bucks incentive, from 2006
through 2009. From 2006 through 2007, Health Bucks coupons were distributed
primarily through community-based organizations. From 2008 through 2009,
they were distributed primarily as an incentive for using EBT at farmers
markets. Values are in dollars (followed by number of market days) and
represent average sales per market day. Abbreviation: EBT, electronic
benefit transfer.
Market | EBT Sales Before Market Accepted Health Bucks, $ (No. Market Days) | EBT Sales After Market Accepted Health Bucks, $ (No. Market Days) | P Value |
---|---|---|---|
Market A | $341 (36) | $1,608 (41) | < .001 |
Market B | $18 (5) | $67 (57) | .794 |
Market C | $48 (9) | $214 (21) | .298 |
Market D | $190 (19) | $449 (21) | .041 |
Figure 2. Average daily EBT sales at select New York City farmers markets before and after markets accepted Health Bucks, from 2006 through 2009. Analysis is limited to markets that accepted EBT both before and after accepting Health Bucks.
Values are in dollars (followed by number of market days) and represent
average sales per market day. Abbreviation: EBT, electronic benefit
transfer.
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